The Mule

The Mule by Clint Eastwood (2018)

A new installment in this series dedicated to films about criminal enterprises.

An elderly horticulturist, fallen into poverty, agrees to become a drug courier for a Mexican cartel.

Soon, along with the easy money, he also gains the attention of DEA agents.

“I’m Richard… Rico… a friend of one of Ginny’s bridesmaids.” “Okay, I’m Earl.” “Earl, listen, if you’re really down on your luck, I have some friends who’ll pay you to drive from one city to another.” “They’ll pay me to drive? And what do you get out of it, smart guy?” “I’m just saying I have friends looking for careful drivers like you.” “Yeah…” “Your grandson can help you.” “Okay.” (Earl Stone & Rico)

Estas loco Viejo His name was Leonard Sharp.

During his life, right after turning twenty, he found himself fighting for the United States in Italy.

He earned great honor during his military service and was even awarded a medal.

But then the war ended, and in the following years, he went through a marriage that ended in divorce and eventually became a great-grandfather.

It is also said—though we have no certainty—that he briefly owned a small airline that later went bankrupt.

What is certain, however, is that his main profession was as a florist: during his career, he developed over 180 varieties of flowers, the most famous of which was named Ojo Poco.

Leo was well-known in the field, thanks to his habit of attending various themed conferences and fairs across the United States, often dressed in elegant attire and accompanied by his entourage of Mexican florists who worked with him on his farm.

His life, essentially, remained this way until the late 1990s, when he reached the age of 75.

Then, the internet changed everything.

Commerce, advertising, and the way business was done underwent a true revolution, and Leo either could not or would not adapt to this new situation.

The direct consequence was that his income drastically decreased year after year.

It’s unclear how what happened next came to be.

The only thing we know is that, perhaps through indirect contacts with some Mexican florists, he became a drug courier for the world’s largest cartel (Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, led by El Chapo).

He started in the early 2000s, transporting money from one place to another, and once he gained the trust of the bosses, he moved on to cocaine: a thousand dollars for every kilo transported.

He was considered reliable and unsuspecting due to his age and was given the nickname El Tata.

He moved between the United States and Mexico, and most of his trips ended in Detroit.

Leonard Sharp was arrested on October 21, 2011, after a long series of investigations.

At the time of his arrest, 104 kg of cocaine were found in his pickup truck.

At his trial in 2013, he immediately pleaded guilty but did not cooperate in any way with the investigations into the cartel.

He is considered the oldest drug trafficker in American history.

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood returns to acting after six years (excluding his cameo in American Sniper) and directs a deeply moving film where themes dear to him, such as the passage of time, life, and society, find fertile and precious ground in the story being told.

But that’s not all: he also shows us how the world of crime operates, not just through well-known (and sometimes mythologized) figures seen in many films and cinematic sagas.

On the contrary, it is in the so-called “underworld” that one often finds unsuspecting and important figures for the cause, like the protagonist of this story.

The Mule, directed and performed with great class, is almost to be considered a testament, aiming straight for the heart and remaining, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful and profound works by this extraordinary cinema man, especially for the incredible variety of themes addressed and human emotions represented.

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